How to Add a User to Local Administrator Group

By Sophia | Last Updated January 04, 2024

After creating server user account in Windows server 2012 (R2), how to add the user to local administrator group to grant it administrator privileges? This passage will tell you two easy ways to achieve this goal.

The following ways are introduced using server 2012 (R2) computer, and also apply to Windows 7 and Windows server 2008 (R2).

1. Add user to local administrator group via computer management
2. Add user to local administrator group via net user command
3. Change the standard user to an administrator
4. How to recover forgotten administrator password

1. Add user to local administrator group via computer management

Step 1: Press Win +X to open Computer Management

Step 2: In the console tree, click Groups.
Computer Management\System Tools\Local Users and Groups\Groups

Step 3: Right-click the group to which you want to add a member, click Add to Group, and then click Add.

Step 4: In the Select Users (Computers, or Groups) dialog box, do the following:

• To add a user account or group account to this group, under Enter the object names to select , type the name of the user account or group account that you want to add to the group, and then click OK .
• To add a computer account to this group, click Object Types, select the Computers check box, and then click OK. Under Enter the object names to select, type the name of the computer account that you want to add to the group, and then click OK.

2. Add user to local administrator group via net user command

Login into Windows server 2012 (r2) with administrator, and then do as following:

Step 1: Press Win + X to run Command Prompt (Admin).
In other Windows operational systems, you may have to click "Start", type "cmd" and press Enter to run command prompt.

Step 2: Type "net user" command to see what the user accounts are on Windows server 2012 (R2).

Step 3: Type the following command to add user account "genius" to local administrators group. And press Enter to complete this command.
net localgroup administrators genius /add

Change the standard user to an administrator

There are administrator accounts and standard users on Windows. The standard users do not have full control over Windows system settings, so how do you change the standard user to an administrator? Here are the detailed steps.

Step 1: In the "Run" program (Win+R), type netplwiz and click "OK" to go to the User Account Management Center.

Step 2: Select the standard users that need to be added to the Administrators group and click on the "Properties" button.

Step 3: Select "Administrators" in the "Group Membership" field, then click "OK" to return to the user account screen and click "OK" again, the user will be changed to an administrator account.

How to recover forgotten administrator password

If you have only one administrator account on your computer and you forget its password, then you will lose full control of Windows and you will be prevented from accessing specific apps, folders, system settings and so on. How to get administrator privileges without a passcode? iSunshare Windows Password Genius can help you remove the forgotten administrator password, and then you can add a new password to the administrator.

Step 1: Install iSunshare Windows Password Genius on another available computer and launch the software. Insert a USB or CD/DVD into your computer and click "Begin Burning" to make a password reboot disk.

Insert the password reset disk into the PC that has forgotten the administrator password, then go to the BIOS menu to set the computer to boot from the password reset disk.

Step 2: Reboot the computer and the application interface of iSunshare Windows Password Genius will pop up automatically. Select the administrator user and click "Reset Password", and then the password of the local administrative user will be deleted immediately.

Step 3: You can click "Add User" to add a new administrator user and password.

Related articles:

• How to Enable or Disable Windows Server 2012 Built-in Administrator
• Default Admin Password for Windows Server 2012 (R2)
• Net User Command for Windows Server 2012 (R2)
• Reset Domain Admin Password for Windows Server 2012 (R2)
• How to Create New Administrator on Windows 10 without Login